Amid rising community concerns about student truancy, Montgomery County Public Schools is preparing to release a new plan in the coming days to discourage absenteeism. A spokesperson for the school district said data isn’t readily available to quantify how often students skip class and leave school grounds.
Board of Education President Karla Silvestre (At-Large) pointed out that absenteeism is a national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and related mental health concerns.
She said the district will be releasing a “comprehensive absenteeism plan” at the end of March and will be soliciting public feedback before the plan is reviewed by Associate Superintendent Damon Monteleone from the MCPS Office of Well-Being, Learning and Achievement.
The plan will “tighten up” school policy to ensure consequences are implemented for chronically absent students. Current policy states that in the event of an unexcused absence, the school counselor will meet with the student and caregivers, verify the reason for the absence and “determine appropriate interventions.”
“Absenteeism triggers all kinds of supports that come into play,” Silvestre said. “Student well-being teams are deployed to find out the root causes. But we’re seeing that there’s an accountability piece of this that is missing.”
In February, County Council member Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) had strong words for MCPS on Twitter after attending the Family Forum on Fentanyl at Northwood High School. She said many parents at the event voiced concern about students leaving campus during school hours, and she said she frequently sees students hanging out at the Glenmont McDonald’s, near where she lives.
Fani-González said in talking with police and school principals from her district, she’s learned that the amount of student truancy taking place in high schools is “becoming overwhelming” and “really getting out of hand.”
MCPS spokesperson Jessica Baxter declined to provide MoCo360 with data quantifying how often absenteeism occurs in high schools, saying the information is not readily available and must be accessed through a Maryland Public Information Act request.
The McDonald’s at Glenmont Shopping Center off Georgia Avenue is a 15-minute walk away from John F. Kennedy High School and has become a regular hangout for students skipping class, according to county and school officials. The school has a closed campus lunch policy, meaning students are not allowed to leave campus until the end of the day except in circumstances where they must leave for a job or internship.
“We have had instances where students have snuck out to go to the McDonald’s [in Glenmont] during lunch,” Baxter wrote to MoCo360. “This behavior is not condoned.”
The McDonald’s falls within Montgomery County Police’s 4th District, overseen by Commander David Smith. He said truancy problems at that location are causing the department “some concerns” and that they’re working with McDonald’s and the shopping center to develop a new policing strategy specific to that area.
Smith said the department has received over 80 calls for service at that location from January 2022 through March 21, 2023. The data could not be readily broken down by time of day. While he described some calls as “more routine,” he said data shows others have included assaults, disorderly conduct and “quality of life” calls related to alcohol or drug use.
“We do have some quality-of-life issues that we’re addressing,” he said. “However, I believe we’re empowered with the tools to really get a wholistic solution to this.”
The department is considering placing a prominently visible mobile surveillance camera at the shopping center that would provide real-time intelligence to the police’s Violence Crime Information Center, Smith said. The cameras are a relatively new piece of equipment developed over the past couple years, he said, and have been “a really good resource” for officers.
The department has a close relationship with MCPS and frequently swaps information with staff, he said. Police are working closely with McDonald’s risk management team to coordinate strategy.
“I’m very encouraged by the existing relationships we have with our business community, and I believe we’re going to be very successful in resolving some of these challenges,” Smith said.
MoCo360 made multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach McDonald’s corporate office for comment.
For students with overall attendance issues, Baxter said the school can implement several interventions, including “daily notifications, teacher/student meetings, student well-being team meetings, attendance meetings with grade-level administrators/counselors, truancy board referrals” and other measures.
Some community members think student absenteeism would be less of an issue if the district reinstated its School Resource Officer (SRO) program. Beginning with the 2021-22 school year, the county removed police officers from schools and replaced SROs with community engagement officers (CEOs) who are stationed off school grounds but within a close enough range to respond to calls for service.
Olney resident Dana Noga has been involved with MCPS for 40 years—first as a student, then with her five children. Her oldest child is enrolled at Magruder High. She said she believes the student environment has shifted in recent years and that the presence of hard drugs and weapons has “become the norm” for high schoolers.
Noga said she believes putting police officers back in would help curb truancy and other behavioral issues.
“They made a difference in the schools, without a doubt. They built relationships with the students and served as role models for them,” she said. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you they’re the end-all be-all. But they made a difference.”
Fani-González said she wants to see more mental health support for students to help them succeed in school and emphasized the need for students to develop a sense of personal responsibility for their education.
“The answer is not to put these kids behind bars. The answer is to get them help and a sense of purpose,” she said.
